Is there a Randy Poffo baseball card ? Yes. In fact there are actually three of them that we know of.
It is definitely worth pointing out though that these aren’t “official” cards. They are actually custom cards, often times known as ACEO cards.
If you didn’t already know. Randy Poffo went on to become the wrestler “Macho Man” Randy Savage later in his sporting career. We will cover this in more detail later.
It is worth noting that Poffo has never appeared in the Beckett.com database as a baseball player. So, none of the ‘custom’ cards below are officially recognised and listed.
What Is A Custom or ACEO Card?
These cards are non licensed sports cards that are made by companies and individuals. They are made as an alternative to the mainstream licensed sports cards that we all know so well.
ACEO stands for Art Card Editions and Originals. One of the big issues with them that makes them so cheap today is that they would have unlimited and unmonitored print runs.
The other problem is that they were generally lower quality. Usually printed on thinner card than normal they just felt cheap compared to the mainstream cards.
During the Junk Wax Era these cards were very common as the manufacturers sought to capitalise on the card boom of the time.
The Randy Poffo Cardinals Card #788
As mentioned above, this is a non licensed card, but interesting nevertheless.
It shows Randy in his St Louis Cardinals Youth Team Top. He can be seen sporting some classic 1970’s sideburns.
A double sided card with the typical player stats on the rear.
Expect to pay around $5 plus shipping.
Randy Poffo 1971 Cardinals Card #548
As you can see, this card baseball card shows Randy Poffo in full gear with catchers mitt while playing for the Gulf Coast Cardinals.
According to various reports, it was about this time the Randy picked up a bad injury to his throwing shoulder. He was naturally a right hander, but taught himself how to throw as a leftie. An achievement that really shouldn’t be underestimated.
As before, This Randy Poffo custom baseball card is very common and still widely available on line. Look to pay $5 or less, plus shipping.
Randy Poffo Cincinnati Reds Card #661 1974
This time playing outfield, Poffo can be seen wearing his Cincinnati Reds cap and again sporting some lamb chop sideburns.
This was the last of the custom baseball cards to be made showing Randy Poffo.
Not long after this he started getting involved in wrestling during the baseball off season. The wrestling career took off quickly and soon after, he retired from baseball.
This was the last known baseball card before he then went on to become Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage.
Who was Randy Poffo?
Randy Poffo is perhaps better known by his ring name “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
Randy Savage was a professional wrestler who achieved great success in the 1980s and 1990s. Highly regarded by the networks he became a fan favorite.
Wrestling was clearly in the family DNA as his father, Angelo Poffo was a wrestler. Lanny, his brother, was also a professional wrestler who went by the ring name “The Genius”.
You may be interested to know that there are actually some very collectible officially licensed trading cards from his time in the WWF. (Now known as WWE). We will talk about a couple of interesting ones later.
Best Randy Savage Wrestling Cards
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015. This was awarded posthumously following his sudden death from a heart attack in 2011.
There are over 100 licensed Randy Savage wrestling cards to choose from. Plus a few unlicensed ones too.
Here are a couple to watch out for
1986 Monty Gum Rookie Card #94
Getting harder to find now in good condition, and not your typical sports card.
This was an unauthorised card that was made in Holland in 1986. These cards are low quality and have some interesting mis prints within the set that make them quite collectible to some.
The cards have the usual numbered photo on the front, but the backs are plain.
They are smaller than typical trading cards and have small perforation marks where they were joined to other cards on the top and bottom. You sometimes see hand cut or trimmed versions popping up but the perforated near mint ones are where the real money is.
This was one of the earliest known wrestling cards for Randy Savage.
Like the previous 3 baseball cards, it was unlicensed. Because of this I think it would make for a very interesting set if all four were displayed together.
Still plenty around in poor condition but expect to pay $400 for a grade 7-8 and up to $1100 for a PSA 9-10.
1985 O-Pee-Chee Macho Man Rookie Card #11
O-Pee-Chee cards look incredibly similar to Topps and there is a reason for that. Back in 1958 O-Pee-Chee negotiated a licensing agreement with Topps to produce their cards in Canada under the OPC label.
There are however some significant differences. The main one being that the rear of the card was printed in French.
Another giveaway on some is that on the front of the card, in the top right corner, Topps is sometimes replaced with O-Pee-Chee.
Harder to come by now, you can expect to pay $300 for a grade 7-8 and up to $1000 for a near mint slab.
Conclusion
Randy Poffo Baseball cards aren’t rare or valuable, but they are still interesting to collectors. Especially given that he is one of those athletes that was talented enough to straddle two sports.
Since the change to wrestling, Macho Man Randy Savage cards have grown in popularity. There is something for every budget but I still like the thought of putting together an unlicensed set as mentioned above. If nothing else, it would make a nice display and a good conversation piece.
He's a hobby writer and collector who helps us out at SportsWorldCards by sharing his many years of experience.
Rob has a large card collection and has bought and sold quite a few over the years. Along the way he's netted a healthy profit that gets reinvested back into his collecting budget (with a bit held back for beer of course!).
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